


We've Waited So Long

by slinkyminky



Category: PRISTIN (Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-10-10 23:37:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10450098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slinkyminky/pseuds/slinkyminky
Summary: Kyulkyung notices Eunwoo's odd silence on the way to a shoot, another day in the life. Anticipation builds for PRISTIN's debut, and feelings bottle up. Pinkwoo!





	

The weather is predictably frigid as the winter chill carried over to February - the van moves just as fast, cleaving its way through bounds of scenery. The beauty of Japan has always been restrained and yet breathtaking, Eunwoo ponders to herself as she tries to make hearts over the mist coating the window, absentmindedly realizing that she cannot do it from the inside. She exhales heavily, and looks at her tired friends - older girls messily sprawled and tangled into each other, and young ones with a flurry of pillows catching up on sleep in the back. 

Nayoung is fast asleep with her back straight, eyemask and earplugs on for good measure, knowing all too well the ruckus that manages to follow the rowdy group of girls, whose faces betray the amount of talent they have - dancers, singers, composers - but first and foremost, mostly teenagers, if not young ladies on the cusp of adulthood. 

Nunu looks on at her in lucid admiration, how does someone become so good at keeping people in line? Even during her one year stint with IOI, even during the whole Produce 101 shebang, she hardly lost her cool. Most of all, she was a source of comfort in these trying times. If only she could be as graceful. If only she could be...

The thought is interrupted by a familiar weight on her shoulder. The scent of lavender brings her synapses to life.

We were supposed to watch each other graduate, she thinks to herself. She watches the light frame the side of Kyulkyung's face as strands of hair form a curtain that tickles her neck.

Then again, this is what we studied at a performing arts high school for - to be performers. "You and I have waited so long," she whispers. Yet the feeling stretches from years to minutes.

Yebin, I mean Rena, snores like a pug through her face mask, as she sits on the opposite end of the row. Nunu fondly remembers the exact same snore disrupting lectures. It's hard for her to get used to these stage names, she's known these girls for years, and now, the anticipation feels tangible.

Kyulkyung is a quiet but heavy sleeper, directly in contrast to her booming laugh that resounds in memory. How could we have been friends this long, she thinks, as she zones in on every inch of her face, a face people would die for.

She can't help but imagine how she would look like bowing during graduation to rounds of applause. She sees herself in the crowd clapping. Her eyelashes are long and thick, and her skin is immaculate, as the sunlight illuminates her skin in waves. Her beauty and reputation precede her. And yet, and yet, they don't get it. They don't get what makes her so much more than the other girls that slave away for the same dream - her heart, her drive, her boundless appreciation for little things - puts her far above the rest.

"Nunu."

Eunwoo catches her breath, shaken with surprise as Kyulkyung opens her eyes to meet hers.

"Take a picture, it lasts longer." She frowns, then smirks - beyond the ethereal beauty lies the sense of humor Eunwoo wishes she were more known for.

Kyulkyung slides a finger across her phone screen to catch Eunwoo in a bad angle. The usual thumb head routine. And yet, Eunwoo doesn't budge or entertain her this time. There are too many things going on in her head, a swirl of thoughts, a torrent of emotions. This is it, it's happening, the debut they've waited and agonized over for so long.

"What's on your mind?"

"I'm hungry."

"If you were actually hungry you would be louder, I know you."

She does. Too well.

There's more to her silence than the inevitable anxiety of finally debuting. The repercussions of the life she chose, at least emotionally and mentally, have taken a toll on Eunwoo - and yet she isn't the type to place her burden on other people, especially not Kyulkyung. There's so much more that she stresses over, to add to her plate would be selfish. She comes from so far away, with no one else to watch over her, and yet her attitude remains so positive. How does she handle that? She wishes it would rub off on her, even though she puts on a facade of cheerfulness on a daily basis.

"You do know me. I can't lie to you."

"Of course not! You and I are best friends."

"Mhmm," she says as she nuzzles into her hair in a "friendly" way.

"You're my soulmate," she continues, as Eunwoo's heart skips a beat. "You should let me know what weighs you down. You're never this quiet."

"You're right. But you'll laugh."

"That's not bad. You know I laugh at everything."

Eunwoo pauses to stare back at the view, the blur of greenery, farther and farther away from the city. She wonders where they're going, Pledis never really tells them the whole deal. 

"I don't want to trouble you."

"Please do," she says almost desperately.

How could she resist? She takes a deep breath. The waft of lavender. She's right, it's only fair.

"...It's just that I've been reading VLIVE comments. Comments about my body."

"Eunwoo-"

"Just dumb stuff. Like how I don't have abs or whatever. Or how..." Her tears well up and her eyes glaze as she bites her lip. "My body is... Just very nasty, filthy stuff. You don't wanna hear it. They make me feel so dirty." A single drop rolls down her cheek. "I really don't want to talk about it..."

"I'm so sorry, Nunu... I didn't mean to-"

"No, I'm glad I got it off my chest. I don't want to worry you. I just know it's part of it, this whole thing. Being a performer, other people's opinions, and I shouldn't even be..." She sighs. "I shouldn't even be so surprised. This is... normal, isn't it?"

Kyulkyung straightens her back, almost angrily. She then softens to tuck Eunwoo's hair behind her ear, delicately, then eases her hand to cup her face.

"No. It's not. It shouldn't be."

"I'm sure you've dealt with this before. You're stronger than me, and your family is so far away."

"You're my family, Nunu. It hurts to see you hurt."

She raises her hand to cup Eunwoo's other cheek, then briefly looks around at the rest of the gang sleeping like rocks.

"If I could punch all of those slimy men in the face, you know I would. But they hide behind a screen, and are cowards. You are brave for chasing your dream. We're chasing it together."

Eunwoo leans on Kyulkyung's shoulder, tables turned, a humbled prankster, tearing up at dumb internet comments. How did it come to this? All she wanted was to be a singer. But if she did something more safe, she wouldn't be leaning on this particular shoulder.

With every passing day the goal becomes closer. It used to be so abstract in her head, to be on TV, to be on the radio - she remembers The Voice Kids, her first time in the spotlight. How that round of applause made her crave more, but also how her parents looked on in awe, how the tips of her fingers tingled as she sang her last note. She didn't ever think she would be able to dance as good as she did now, but she managed to keep up with the rest and let her body flow like water. She couldn't let anyone make her feel this small. Because in this very moment, the world paused around her, the tumble of the van, the snoring, it didn't matter much. Her resolve was much stronger. The gears are turning.

For a split second, her mind shifts to the grueling practices, the sweat, the exhaustion, everything compounding into muscle memory. In the recesses of her mind, she watches Kyulkyung move - bright as fire, dancing like there's no tomorrow, as if her life depended on it. It did. She chose this path and more than anyone, she had no way out. So she excelled tremendously, wowing people, and yet people would focus on her looks - which to be fair, was predictable. But her talent was immeasurable. Eunwoo watched her grow into the performer she is now - her agile limbs, her nimble fingers. She caught herself envisioning the small of her back while she wore her favorite crop top to practice and gulped. Blood rushes to her cheeks as she remembers how she would simply take her shirt off after practice without a care in the world, how she would prance across the room with the energy of five people.

She softens at the thought of all their inside jokes, she can't even count them all, there were way too many, as if they had their own language, most of the quips came like rapid fire. Most of all, she loved her laugh. Her laughter was an endless well of amusement. It was easy to get her to laugh and hard to get her to stop. Grabbing Kyulkyung's phone, she finally makes the thumb face, and of course she bursts into hearty laughter.

"You think I'm strong? You are so strong, Nunu. Most of all, you're so funny..."

She pauses and looks around once more, around the van, and straight into her friend's glossy eyes. She continues to speak.

"...I would never be this strong without you at my side. So please, tell me about these things. I know we always mess around and dance around these things. If you would open your heart to me, and tell me what bothers you, you won't have to go through it alone. It's the least I could do." She stops to smile. "I would be so lonely without you."

Somehow, more tears stream down Eunwoo's face. She tries to sniff the runny nose away but to no avail, and laughs even harder, also looking around as to not disturb the rest.

"Ah, how stupid... I'm so glad. I'm so glad that you're my friend."

She could be imagining things, or Kyulkyung winced towards the end of that sentence. Either way, she meant it. But the word friend rolled off her tongue in a strange, unprecedented way. It almost felt wrong.

"We're soul mates, dummy," Kyulkyung whispers as she leans in to join foreheads, ever so slightly brushing noses, eyes stuck in a fixed stare engulfed with palpable tension, a little awkward, both a little nervous, but is she reading this right? Because strangely enough it feels right.

The van halts and everyone wakes up. Their foreheads bump. The pain is sharp.

"A, shit!" Kyulkyung covers Eunwoo's mouth.

"Sorry girls!" The driver exclaims in Japanese. There was a dog crossing the road."

"Did we hit him?" Yewon, I mean Yehana, exclaims more than asks with the face of a puppy herself.

"Thankfully not." Roa, in the front seat, takes her headphones off and turns around to check on the rest. "Hey, what are you two doing there?"

Eunwoo sits up straight and wipes her tears. "Kyulkyung called me an egg!"

They look at each other and laugh.

Roa, aka, Minkyung in their minds still, shrugs. "Whatever."

Yebin snores on. The kids stretch. The two look around them, at their friends, and back at each other, wondering if the feeling was real, or if they were imagining things. Or if it would ever happen again.


End file.
